Everyone froze the moment Arabella Donovan spoke.
Madam Foster was the first to react, her voice trembling with excitement. "Serena, are you telling the truth?"
"Of course it's true. When have I ever lied to you?"
"No, no, if it comes from you, it must be true. Raphael, did you hear that? None of those things that happened before had anything to do with you. You just had bad luck and happened to be there. It wasn't your fault."
By the end, Madam Foster's eyes had reddened, brimming with tears.
Because of his background, Raphael Foster had faced no shortage of gossip since childhood. When he first came to the Foster family, he was only a few years old, yet he was already sullen, taciturn, and quiet.
While other children his age were lively and playful, he seemed as if he had already weathered countless storms, showing no interest in anything.
Back then, she and her husband worried the boy was trapped in his own head, afraid he would be stuck that way forever.
